I hate the idea of being the same as all the people around me. “Conformity: similarity in form or type; agreement in character.” But how do I avoid this? “Conformity: compliance with standards, rules or laws.” Behave how society would like you to behave and life will be simpler. What makes me resent rules but barely even notice the things I do just because society, family, friends, etc. expects me to?

I know that I am lucky. Such a small percentage of the world has opportunities like earning a college degree. Going to college was something I knew I needed to do not only for my future job opportunities but also to get away from the old me and become more mature and independent. I don’t hate learning either, especially in subjects I truly care about. I can’t say for sure that I would rather not be here but every day I get less and less satisfied with being a college student. I am restless, I am tired, and I am bored. I feel like some growth happened quickly here but now it has stopped. I think I’m shrinking. I feel stuck here. My teachers give me rules on how many days I can miss class. I conform and drag myself through the day struggling to pay attention. I have no idea what I want to do after college so I am wasting money here. I want to travel. I don’t want to find money I want to find myself. I conform and go to the career exploration office. I search for jobs that interest me. I don’t like any of the majors. I want to make documentaries, or live in a shack in another country because real jobs are too repetitive. I want to learn and go on adventures. Society makes me too scared to take a risk. I will need money to pay off my student loans so I need to get a good job. Society gives me strict guidelines to judge my achievements and I try to follow them because that will make me successful.

Why do people conform? Because it is easier. I think in the time right before you die you will regret conforming. You will ask yourself why you never did all the things you wanted to and most of the time it will be because other people caused you to doubt your own thoughts. I like the idea of reclaiming my life instead of spending it following other people’s rules. I think it will be hard for me to take control of my life and stop conforming because a lot of the times I don’t even realize I’m doing it. Societal norms have some benefits but overall I plan to avoid conformity and reclaim myself.

"conformity". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 28 Oct. 2016. <Dictionary.com http://www.dictionary.com/browse/conformity>.